Belief and Proof, existence is not provable, thank God ;-)

I know those far distant Red Rocks are millions of years old, but i cannot prove it.

Try this one, try to prove that anything is beautiful -- can't yet there is beauty. | Source

Can you prove that you love?

This morning I was working away on my reflection for the day and found myself needing to analyze some secular stuff. Some days are like that, ethereal gets real attention and I kind of blow off practical work. This morning I was doing research on the issues of detention and search and seizure by TSA or customsand airports, particularly west coast to Asia travelers and more particular folks with very common names on watch lists. Obviously the government will not fill us in on what they look for or how to prevent problems travelling international, to say, Communist China. For some reason in Asian culture they have a lot of names that are extremely well used. For example my son has a middle name Nguyen. And a similar Chinese name is Chiu. The point is that there are a lot of Nguyen’s and Chiu’s on watch lists, so it is not uncommon to find several with the same first name also. An innocent legitimate traveler may find some secondary nonsense simply because of his/her common name.

Very interesting because it brought me back to my sermonizing this morning. You see in customs you need to be ready, willing and able to prove your legitimate reason for travel. You need to keep it handy and easy to prove in case your name is the same name as the terrorist de Jour. I do some work for executives and traders in such matters. Explaining and developing methods of truth are more akin to evidence in a court of law than reality and much can “cut both ways”. I am certain all my folks are legit, because I do other work for them that makes me privy to shenanigans as well as their straight forward work. Our understanding of evidence and the logic of proof is normally only taught in law school and graduate philosophy studies. But in the case of travelers we must be ready to prove both the existence and facts and the non-existence of facts.

Do you believe what you read or see on TV?

Now imagine we could prove love. Whatever the standard of proof would be, some would have better “evidence” than others. Would the diamond on her finger gauge love? My wife’s is bigger so I love her more than you love your wife? Perhaps longevity would be a proof. The newlyweds do not love as deep as the 40 years married folks? Love and belief are just not of this world. They are not provable in that sense and thank God for that truth.

The sermonizing was about proof for the purpose of faith. God has compassion and understands our limited notion of what proves what and when proof must be abandoned for faith. Faith and belief are necessarily things not taken on proof. I suppose the only possible way to prove faith is to die and see what happens.

I have heard some remarkable things in my day. Landing on the moon, wow, and now soon on mars again. The holocaust, unbelievable. Certainly the speeds reached in the Olympics and Jesus Christ. Interesting that I have never seen irrefutable proof of any of them. And there are those that proclaim they did not happen and were just manufactured to trick us all. I suppose it is true we take it on some faith that any of the above actually occurred.

How tall and how old are those rocks - measure and date, easy.

The physical world needs proof of existence otherwise it does not exist. The spiritual world needs to be not provable otherwise it does not exist. | Source

Ask someone to just believe in you.

It would appear as true that man in general needs proof of the existence or none existence of facts or actions. Reading about Jesus and his life, I notice two main times when he was asked to perform a sign as proof of who he was. John 6: 30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? And the last cruelties shouted at Jesus. Matthew 27:39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” But probably the most famous of doubters, without proof was Thomas.

I will today have faith and believe without proof. John 20 29Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Clearly the best thing about faith and Love is the same. We are free from proof.

Comments

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suraj punjabi 5 years agofrom jakarta

Good question.

I believe that faith has to be questioned, tested and studied. Although a lot of religious authority will tell you otherwise and threaten you that it is a sin.

Faith without questioning is just blind faith, where we just become parrots to a certain religious group. Preach sermons and say things like Om, Amen, Halleluyah without even knowing. faith and wisdom should go hand in hand. Wisdom is the eyes, for our faith. The faith is our feet that helps us move through our spiritual path and make us persevere go no matter how hard the path becomes.

To believe without wanting to find out facts only shows the fear in the person to get closer to the fact and the truth of the matter. Such fear may stem from our upbringing. Where we had authority figures such as parents and priest who made us believe that we should not question the existence of god.

To believe without wanting to find out whether our belief is valid or not is called denial.

Sure your blind faith may make you feel stronger, just the same way an alcoholic in denial feels stronger when he consumes alcohol. But once he accepts that he is alcoholic and goes to rehab and gets wisdom and knowledge of the dangers of alcoholism he is wise and he becomes a more powerful man and an asset to society.

So by all means please question everything. Every fact, believe and concept that any spiritual authority throws at you. You have all the rights as a human to question all beliefs and dogmas. That is the one thing tht seperates the enlightened and the ignorant.

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Eric Dierker 5 years agofrom Spring Valley, CA. U.S.A.

100% agree with you, except for Thomas. Sometimes and rarely we are called to debate the notion of proof of our God. Jesus and his interaction with Thomas lets us know that it is ok to doubt and ok to demand proof at least through logic. The really cool part is that it is a great lesson for all matters accepted on faith. Buddhism to Hindu to Muslin can benefit by this benevolent acceptance of our humaness.

Dolores02 5 years agofrom earth

the desire or need for proof is the hardest thing to overcome when we are asked to believe on faith. and yet it is the faith that makes things so, not the proof. do you believe this? i find it to be the biggest (and by all accounts, the most important) paradox to overcome in the spiritual journey. how do we get past that point of wondering, "but what if it's not true, and i have been duped?" i read that belief requiring proof is not really belief, it is the observation of a seeming fact. i do find that faith in and of itself makes me feel stronger, and i am grateful to the creator for that.